Albums

Three studio albums of Vashti Bunyan's work have been released, along with one compilation. Here is a brief look at each.

Just Another Diamond Day

Her debut, recorded at the very end of the '60s (December 1969). She wrote the songs on Just Another Diamond Day while traveling around the countryside; hence, they largely focus on the flora, fauna, geographic features, and weather she encountered. Many of them have a very traditional-British-folk feel. This album gave music fans their first exposure to the ethereal qualities of her seemingly fragile yet determined voice. While some critical raves poured in, sales were slow, and Vashti decided to leave the music industry.

Lookaftering

In 2000, about 30 years after Just Another Diamond Day first appeared, it was reissued on CD, and an enthusiastic new audience embraced Vashti's artistry. As a result, she started making music again. In 2005, she reemerged with a new album, Lookaftering, that offered familiar Vashti touches as well as a modern updating of her sound. Her subject matter was updated too, reflecting her change from wandering young minstrel to grownup mother; as the title implies, the songs on Lookaftering are largely about caring for one's family and friends (and oneself). While more intricate instrumentation sometimes lends a less primitive/minimalist feel to the songs, some of them — featuring a single guitar and Vashti's delicately earnest quaver — could have fit into her earlier album. Her return was widely welcomed, and a terrific 2008 documentary (Vashti Bunyan: From Here to Before) was even made about this singular musician.

A few songs from this album really stand out to me. I was initially drawn to "Here Before," which sounds little like classic Vashti. Its overlapping layers of vocals and instrumentation create a less intimate, more futuristic sound. But at its base, it relies on Vashti's tender voice singing of family and imagery.

More recently, "Wayward" has become one of my favorite songs. With revelatory frankness, it explores the spirit Vashti grew up with — a spirit that rejected being encased in the typical wife's role of that age. "Didn't want to be the one, the one who's left behind / While the other one goes out to life and comes back home to find / Me sitting pretty happily, surrounded by a house / With cups in all their saucers and not a bit of dust." ... "I wanted to be the one with road dust on my boots / And a single silver ear-ring, and a suitcase full of notes." Which is essentially "the one" that Vashti turned out to be, on her multi-year adventure to the Scottish Hebrides. This truth adds to the delight of "Wayward," which is already an enjoyable tune thanks to Vashti's gently yearning vocals and a lilting melody. That melody comes further to the fore on the accompanying track "Wayward Hum," a purely instrumental version of the song. If it's possible for songs to be simultaneously soothing, uplifting, and wistful, these are the songs.

Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind

Following Vashti's long-anticipated second album, a compilation of some of her earliest work was released. These songs, recorded from 1964 to 1967, had not appeared on Just Another Diamond Day (though several of them were appended to a later reissue). The 12 songs on this album's second CD are demos recorded in 1964, featuring just her voice and acoustic guitar. What these tales of love, pain, and yearning lack in lyrical or instrumental complexity, they make up in utter charm. They sound like the audio diary of a wounded but hopeful heart. The first CD has some enjoyable material too, but many of its 13 songs had been revised for commercial release, so they have a glossy and occasionally overproduced feel. (You'll find the original spare and haunting version of "Winter is Blue" along with a commercialized version that sounds overinstrumented and overthought.) The second CD is one of my favorite music collections, and the first CD has enough listenable songs to count as a bonus. Highly recommended!

Heartleap

Vashti's latest album, Heartleap, was released in October, 2014. As of this writing, I've heard only bits of it, so I can't comment on the album as a whole ... but it is so lovely to have more of Vashti's music available!